Turkish Man On Dating Show Was Ax Murderer; He Also Killed Wife

Sefer Çalınak (right) and the host of Flash TV's Ne Çıkarsa Bahtına (The Luck of the Draw).

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Originally published on May 9, 2014 5:24 pm

Think your love life is complicated?

A 62-year-old Turkish man went on a dating show and stunned the host and audience when he revealed that he'd killed his first wife. Not just that: He also revealed that he'd killed his former lover with an ax. But Sefer Çalınak told Flash TV's Ne Çıkarsa Bahtına (The Luck of the Draw) that he'd learned from his past, and said he was now an "honest person looking for a new wife."

The program's host wasn't convinced: She asked Çalınak to leave. But he repeatedly said he was a victim of "destiny," according to the Hurriyet Daily News.

"Women left me after I told them that I murdered my previous two wives. That's why I openly told them. I spent 14 years in prison. I have changed my ways," Sefer Çalınak told the HaberTürk newspaper. "The woman who will marry me should not be afraid of me killing her."

Çalınak and his cousin Fadime ran away to get married when they were both 17. Her family had tried to force her to marry a widower.

Çalınak and Fadime lived with his family for five months until, he said, "her behavior changed."

"The nephew of the man who wanted to marry her started to come to our village," he said on the TV program. "I was jealous and I killed her, in a way."

He was handed a nearly 14-year prison sentence, but was released after 4 1/2 years following an amnesty.

After his release, he married another woman with whom he had two children. But the couple eventually separated.

Çalınak's next relationship was with an already married woman. She said she'd leave her husband, but, he said, she reneged on her word.

"I killed her after she attempted to kill me," he said on the program. "She was accidentally killed when I swung the ax."

He went back to prison, but was released after another amnesty.

The show's producer told local media that Çalınak was allowed to come on the show because he'd served out his legal sentence.

Çalınak's parting words: "Bad luck always found me," he said. "In spite of everything, I still want to get married. This time I'll leave it to God. "